I recently updated my internet connection to a screaming 8 mbit cable connection. This is up from my 1.5 mbit DSL connection. The downside is that I now need to frequently change my underwear when I download something at 1000 KB/second. I’m now a Concast customer instead of a Qworst customer. A lateral move IMO! But I digress…

I had a WRT54G running Sveasoft’s Alchemy doing most of the gateway-type stuff. I wasn’t even using the wireless. When I got the new cable modem connected, I hooked my laptop directly into it. From there, I had a great 8 mbit connection. Ok, off to a good start. But once I plugged the new cable modem into my network setup (with the WRT54G in between me and the internet), things got slow. What’s up?

Skip to the end where I decide to try out a different firmware. I’ve never liked using Sveasoft due to the author’s dick-head attitude and GPL violations. I’ll let you google for that story on your own. Anyway, I thought I’d try HyperWRT. It appears to me that the standard HyperWRT project is a bit stagnant. However, another fellow picked up the code and has been improving it and releasing it as “HyperWRT Thibor” which is what I installed. Once I did that, *poof* I got my 8 mbit speed back! And as a nice side-effect, I’m not running Sveasoft anymore 🙂

To give a little more information, I believe the issue was Alchemy’s QoS handling. I have to run QoS because I have two separate VoIP routers (Vonage RT31P2 & RTP300) that need priority. I tested this theory by disabling QoS in Alchemy and my speed increased. I also tried setting the max up/download speeds on the QoS screen and no matter what I entered I always maxed out around 5 mbit. Again, HyperWRT Thibor does not have that issue.

Be sure to disable Uninstall Manager 3 when installing the Palm Wi-Fi Card software. They don’t play well together. My screen was blank for roughly 4 minutes. I reset the Palm, disabled Uninstall Manager 3, then ran the palm wifi install again. I then saw the “please wait” dialog and it was finished in no time.